Leeds United take Everton and England U21 midfielder on loan

Leeds United have today completed a one month loan deal for Everton and England U21 midfielder, Ross Barkley.

The 19-year-old has represented England at youth levels since the age of 14 and is considered to be one of the national sides most exciting future prospects.

As Barkley prepared to make his Everton debut in 2011, Tim Cahill described the youngster as the most talented player he’d ever worked with, while Martin Keown has offered a similarly positive assessment, predicting that Barkley would become one of the greatest players English football has ever seen.

In his short career to date the midfielder has made 12 appearances for Everton, and an additional 13 appearances at Sheffield Wednesday where he spent some time on loan last year.

Elsewhere, Leeds United completed the permanent signing of Michael Tonge yesterday for an undisclosed fee. The midfield returns to Elland Road on a two and a half year contract.

Update — Loan duration: While neither Leeds or Everton have confirmed this, it may be the case that Ross Barkley has joined Leeds United until the end of the season and the only reason it’s currently a month long deal is because no recall clause can be inserted into a loan at this time. Once the emergency loan window opens in February, Barkley’s loan can be extended by 93 days with the addition of a recall clause.

He, he, in competition with Tongue then…….Aidy White must wish he really was right -footed and had never won all those 100 metre races at school…

Matthew

Me too, I rate Tonge.

Unsure why but some guy on twitter was going absolutely nuts at everyone saying Tonge was awful, obviously never seen him play, I was sat there thinking WTF when this guy was freaking out crying lack of ambition at every LUFC associated account including the GFH guys when Tonge signed. We have some weird fuckers supporting us don’t we? lol

We have 1 great signing for this level, and 1 decent up and coming youngster, we’re hardly signing big names but these are good starts, I’m happy.

djedjedje

To be honest, every club has its anti-fans – fans who relish the next signing who they pick faults in and lambast about lack of ambition. I pity their spouses.

Matthew

I agree, I would also say if the player in question was poor they’d be correct but Tonge has been nothing but great for us and he wants to be here, that if anything is a positive thing. It’s not just about the money, he genuinely wants to be here to do well at the club.

When people attack players like that on Twitter it bugs me a bit.

Irving08

Tongue, obviously, can play with his head up and play an excellent long ball inside a full back especially; he can shoot too. Playing inside he has the ability to control the play against the weaker teams in the Division. My concern is when we play teams with mobile and quick passing midfields. Here he is too easily by-passed. Yet playing him on the wide left simply negates his strengths and unbalances the team. Still we where we are and I can go with DJE’s judicious assessment: a good signing for an upper Championship team.

Irving08

Tongue and Diouf in the same side to me doesn’t add up. But leaving that aside, what are the strategic implications of such signings ? Do they mean that the owners and Warnock are, in principle, thinking of another season for him ? Does it mean – again in princile – that the owners are prepared for us to go up, with an elderly squad, with all this implies ? Are they, in this case, gambling that our gates would sustain the inflated squad we would then possess, given our consequent need for fresh blood ? And do they suppose that, by then, our younger players will be ready to step up to the plate ? And if this is the strategy, how do they propose to keep them on-side in the meantime ? Returning to the field of play, does Tongue’s signing mean that we will stick with a questionable, and arguably outdated, playing style, which puts a premium on having the ‘flying winger’ Warnock appears both to like and crave ?

djedjedje

I read somewhere that Tonge was likely to be given an 18month contract. That he has signed a 2.5 year contract suggests that he wanted some stability after wasting away at Stoke City, more than it suggests that Warnock is likely to extend his contract. Not that I’d welcome it, but I imagine Warnock would only agree to a contract extension come the end of the season if sizable funds were promised to him. I guess we’ll be parting company come May then!

Squad formations is a hard one to call with Warnock. He always likes to overload in certain, often generic positions (your ‘flying winger’ is one of them (Warnock’s weakness, I agree)). Considering how he likes and has talked of McCormack as an impact substitute, and how Tonge is better helping out defending than Diouf, I can see Warnock playing Tonge from kickoff and bringing on Diouf as a not very fast impact sub – probably to whip in cross after cross for Becchio to singlehandedly keep us afloat.

Matthew

Warnock staying beyond this season was never in doubt for me. Seems more like he’s laying the groundwork for his team rather than building a team and leaving at the end of the season.

I would expect an announcement in the near future saying he’s staying for x amount of years. Perhaps 1 more year at the very least.

djedjedje

You reckon? This season looks to be one too far for him whenever we get stuffed. I’m not sure his heart is so much in it for the football than it is for the record promotions for a manager. I wonder if he looks at the vacant Doncaster job and sees that as the considerably easier way to get that record (albeit possibly doing over his beloved Blades in the process!).

I could well be wrong, but if he stays it’ll be down to more money than we have spent collectively in the last eight years being made available to him in the summer that’ll be the deal breaker. I just don’t think GFHC will be throwing that kind of money about.

Matthew

If anything he was working under the scraps from the Bates regime and this is naturally a new era at the club, the question if GFH is better than Bates in the long run is one that we’l need to wait and see, but they’ve been communicating with the fans and making a few signings, thats a positive step at least.

As long as Warnock gets his players, well the ones he wants and is supported in the long market to cover injuries, I think he’l be happy.

You know Bates had us on our knees, we were screaming for replacements and some points and there was simply no money for them prior to GFH taking over, we all know where the clubs money went.

Irving08

It has the makings of an awful big mess to me.

Matthew

If anything I admired Warnocks work at QPR when he had money, he got them playing well enough to escape this league. Perhaps he can do it on less?

Dare I say it, what we need is stability right now. We need to build a foundation and make something special. We can’t do with swapping and changing managers at this point.

Irving08

I think Mathew that both short-term and long term considerations have to be taken into account: incentivising Warnock, fans and – to some extent – players, for the remainder of the season, on the one hand, whilst not damaging our sustainability, on the other, which crucially includes continuing to bring through our own products. It is a hard act to pull off.

Can’t see it being a permanent move but I could see him doing a job for us. It’s all about getting to the Prem and then see who we can sign. He’ll be hungry and he’s a young lad with plenty of running in him and some class to boot

igiveup

@c1bc1fc5737c839d0c967fb6d014b34a:disqus I agree whats the point? I’d rather we sign someone long term than helping a kid from a Prem club keep himself fit for a few weeks

igiveup

@facebook-543614667:disqus He has a contract at Everton til 2016 and is seen as a future star hardly likely to sign for us really is he

Terrific signing, let’s hope we can extend it. Reading between the lines, I gather Byram will be sold to Everton in the near future. Very happy. That’s the best calibre of signing we’ve seen in a long time.

Yeah but it’s the same old loan dilemma – only in this case it’s the up-and-coming-kid variant rather than the geriatric variant. If he’s as good as they say this isn’t “try before you buy”.

I don’t doubt the lad’s good intentions but he has no connections with Leeds. He may recognise that he needs experience and match fitness but he’s a Scouse lad and he’s young. A year or so down the road he sees himself as an automatic starter with Everton. That’s where his heart and probably his head will be and I couldn’t be mad at him for it. If only subconsciously, is he really going to commit to a 50-50 ball for Leeds knowing that one injury could shatter that dream.

Meanwhile we’ve still got Thompson at Bury. We’ve still got Cairns cast into outer darkness for the umpteenth season and we’ve still got a Honduran international who can’t get a squad number, let alone a game. We don’t need to know if Thompson can play Lge 2 football or if Cairns and others out on loan can play Conference football. We need to know if they can hack it at Leeds. As in all sports, you only get better by playing against better opponents and sometimes getting stuffed in the process.

I’d love to be wrong but I don’t see us getting automatic promotion from our current position – there’s too many other good (and better-resourced) teams in it this year. On the other hand we’re almost mathematically safe from relegation with 20 games to go. This season therefore offers a rare opportunity – the chance to give some of these fringe players and even the youngsters (especially Poleon) a decent three or four game run – make or break.
Then if they don’t work out NW at least he knows he can release them unconditionally and end the dithering.

Irving08

There is much in what you say, I have thought and written as such myself. But it is a high risk strategy for us in our position: our fragile finances and brittle morale might not withstand the testing. I would be happy if Warnock’s team got the very best out of the cohort of younger players we have in or around side already – Byram, Lees, White and Hall – particularly the later pair. The doubly unlucky Ramon (injury and Manager), I am afraid, is destined to be one of our many ‘might have beens’.

Reid_er

I’m happy to say this was one of the signings I asked for when we all played a bit of fantasy football at the start of the window. If we keep all our players and added a left back, a flair winger and a striker I’d be more than happy. Would love someone like McCourt of Celtic. Left back I’m stumped. Striker I think Blackstock would be a better option than the lad from Bradford anyways. Think of how many players have gotten a big move off a good cup run and failed. Jermaine Easter and Freddy Eastwood to name a few.

What a cracking signing young Ross Barkley is, can’t recall anytime since 2004 when an LUFC signing has made me think “WOW”. I know he’s only on loan but hey, we’ll done GFH and NW, this type of QUALITY is the benchmark signing would love to hope there is more to follow. Step in the right direction, well done !!

LUFC.

oldschoolbaby

Utter rubbish. The last thing we need is Barkley driving his brand new, luminescent Vauxhall Corsa, with sound system cannibalised from the last Stones concert, into TA and parking it next to Byram`a Y reg Ford Fiesta. Our youngsters will have their heads turned

For anyone unaware of the hype surrounding this lad when he first appeared.

spellz

relegation candiates Bristol City 0 v leicester City 4

bottom of the league (managerless) Barnsley 2 v Leeds United 0

We are just not good enough for promotion this year I am realising that now I think we had one chance in which our new loan signing hit the bar, we are playing like its the last game of the the x-mas period without resting a single player, what is going on?